With a call to unity and an eye on the future Bishop Helmut Dieser was installed as seventh bishop of Aachen on Saturday. In addition, bishop Dieser also emphasised the synodal future of the Church of Aachen, stating in his installation homily:
“No masterplan, no hey ho! we are better than those before us, and certainly no panic as if we must save the Church, but: Lord, tell us what is needed, tell us when we pray, when we speak and plan with each other, when we are critical and make decisions. Help us to be synodal with each other and with you today, meaning: to know that we are journeying together, not yet ready, but in the unity of the faith of the Church, in the diversity of gifts and tasks and responsibilities, growing towards you, the first who is already complete, so that we may also be complete.”
He may be the seventh bishop of Aachen since the diocese was re-established in 1930, Bishop Dieser has just as much to do as any of his predecessors, he explained.
Main celebrant at the installation Mass was Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki, archbishop of Cologne, as Aachen is a suffragan diocese of that archdiocese. In his word of welcome, he recalled the main duty of a bishop: “The first and most important task of the Apostles then and their successors the bishops now is to proclaim the joyful message of Jesus Christ […] and to be witnesses of the resurrection of Christ.”
Another word of welcome was given by Reinhard Cardinal Marx. The president of the German Bishops’ Conference knows Aachen’s new bishop well, as both come from the Diocese of Trier. Cardinal Marx was bishop there from 2001 to 2007, and Bishop Dieser was a priest of that diocese from 1989 to 2011 and later auxiliary bishop until this year. Cardinal Marx said,
“Those who know Helmut Dieser are soon impressed by his open and cheerful nature. I know the new bishop well. Dyuring my time as bishop of Trier, Helmut Dieser was an involved priest and pastor, who could listen well. With his pastoral experience, his responsibility as auxiliary bishop in Trier and his theological working and thinking, Bishop Dieser brings the best requirements for his new mission.”
Other celebrants at the installation Mass were Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, the Apostolic Nuncio to Germany, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier, and Bishop Karl Borsch, auxiliary if Aachen and Administrator of the diocese between the retirement of Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff and the installation of Bishop Dieser.
In his closing words of thanks, Bishop Dieser began his ministry with a request:
“Let me live with you! Simply, not excessively and exaggerated. Not hidden in roles and expectations. I too am a limited human being. I too can overtax myself.
Only when you can and want to live with me, can I be bishop with you and for you!”
Bishop Helmut Dieser is the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Aachen in its current form. A first Diocese of Aachen was established in 1801, under Napoleonic rule, with territory taken from Cologne in Germany, Roermond and Batavia in the Netherlands, and Liège in Belgium. In 1821 this was once again suppressed, its territory added to Cologne, Trier and Münster. This first Diocese of Aachen only ever had a single bishop, Frenchman Marc-Antoine Berdolet, from 1801 to 1809. His appointment was part of the power struggles between Napoleon’s France and the Holy See. Following Berdolet’s death, the Holy See gave no permission to ordain a successor.
In 1930, Aachen was re-established, this time only from territory of the Archdiocese of Cologne.
Photo credit: Andreas Steindl
In the Netherlands, to begin with, a new bishop will arrive in the Diocese of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Bishop Antoon Hurkmans (right) has already has his resignation on health grounds accepted and it shouldn’t take more than a few more months for his successor in the country’s largest diocese (in numbers at least) to be named. Will it be current Auxiliary Bishop Rob Mutsaerts? Who’s to say.
In Germany, three prelates are expected to retire this year. First of all the long-serving Bishop of Mainz, Cardinal Karl Lehmann (left), who will reach the age of 80 in May. Losing his voting rights in the conclave and his memberships in the Curia, his retirement is expected to follow around the same time. The Diocese has already announced that Cardinal Lehmann will continue to live in his current home, while the former abode of Cardinal Volk, bishop of Mainz from 1962 to 1982. Cardinal Lehmann has headed Mainz since 1983.
In Limburg we may finally expect the arrival of a new bishop. Administrator Bishop Manfred Grothe (right) will be 77 in April and has already retired as auxiliary bishop of Paderborn. In March, it will be two years since Bishop Tebartz-van Elst was made to retire, and according to Bishop Grothe, the time is just about ready for his successor to be named.
In the Archdiocese of Hamburg, the last auxiliary bishop, Hans-Jochen Jaschke (left) will reach the age of 75 in September. This may mean that Archbishop Stefan Heße will be requesting one or more new auxiliary bishops from Rome, either this or next year.
In Belgium then, Ghent’s Bishop Luc Van Looy (right) will turn 75 in September. The Salesian, who became president of Caritas Europe and was among Pope Francis’ personal choices to attend the Synod of Bishops last year, has been bishop of Ghent since 2003.
In Rome, another Belgian bishop will reach the retirement age in April, Archbishop Frans Daneels (left), secretary of the Apostolic Signatura and a Norbertine priest, may return to Averbode Abbey in Belgium, where he made his profession in 1961.
In the Diocese of Mainz, Pope Francis has appointed Fr. Udo Bentz as auxiliary bishop. He succeeds Bishop Ulrich Neymeyr, who went to Erfurt in September.
On the same day, the Archdiocese of Paderborn announced the appointment of Fr. Dominicus Meier as its new auxiliary bishop. He succeeds Bishop Manfred Grothe, whose retirement was also announced on the same day. More on him below.
As mentioned above, Bishop Manfred Grothe retires as auxiliary bishop of Paderborn, but continues in his other office: that of Apostolic Administrator of Limburg. it is likely that that situation will continue until Limburg has a new bishop.
There are two active prelates in Germany who are over the age of 75. One of them is Cardinal Karl Lehmann (pictured), the bishop of Mainz, who will turn 79 on 16 May. He may retire this year, but it is also entirely possible that he will stay on until his 80th birthday, much like Cardinal Meisner in Cologne. We can’t judge if there is any recent tradition of late retirements in Mainz, as five of Cardinal Lehmann’s six immediate predecessors died in office, well before retirement age. The only exception is Cardinal Hermann Volk, who retired on his 79th birthday in 1982.
Two other German bishops will reach the age of 75 this year, and thus tender their resignation. Bishop Norbert Werbs (at right), auxiliary bishop of Hamburg, will reach the retirement age on 20 May, and Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff of Aachen will do so on 29 October. For Hamburg, the retirement of Bishop Werbs will be the second step in the full changeover of the archdiocese’s bishops. Archbishop Thissen already retired last year, and the last auxiliary bishop, Hans-Jochen Jaschke, will follow late next year. A new archbishop and one or more new auxiliaries appear to be on the books this year.
Who will succeed Archbishop Léonard is anyone’s guess, but if the tradition in Belgium is an indication, he will be from Flanders. Since 1832, the office of archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels has been alternately held by a Flemish and a Walloon prelate, and Archbishop Léonard hails from Namur. The bishops of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp or Hasselt are possibilities, as are one of the three auxiliaries bishops of Mechelen-Brussels. If the successor already is a bishop, that is, and the whole idea of tradition may be ignored and another Walloon priest of bishop may be appointed. Whoever it will be, it will certainly be interesting.
In the time during and following Pentecost, the dioceses in Northwestern Europe generally get new priests, as seminarians are ordained during this time in which the Church remembers and celebrates the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the Apostles and His continuing work in the Church today.
In Caelo et in Terra 